South Jersey claims two crowns at state high school wrestling team championships
PISCATAWAY – South Jersey earned some state supremacy on Super Bowl Sunday.
While one of the championships was expected, another was a surprise.
The Delsea Regional High School wrestling team displayed its dominance in Group 3 once again, while Camden Catholic pulled off a 33-29 victory over St. John Vianney in Non-Public B with senior Wayne Rold scoring a major decision in the final bout to clinch the crown at the Jersey Mike’s Arena on the campus of Rutgers University.
Paulsboro put up a serious fight but had to settle for a runner-up finish complete with a controversial missed call after at 34-31 setback to Delaware Valley in the Group 1 final.
The two state team titles marks just the fifth time since 2010 that South Jersey has had multiple crowns in a season.
Irish eyes are smiling
Camden Catholic certainly wasn’t the favorite going into the final against St. John Vianney, especially since the Irish were giving up 12 team points on two forfeits.
“I felt we had a shot, but I didn’t know if we would have enough (because of the forfeits),” Irish coach Bill Heverly said.
However, Camden Catholic stayed within striking distance with three of its stars – Jackson Young, Kage Jones and Rold – ready to roll.
After Young’s 3-0 decision at 126, Jones, a freshman, delivered a big piece of the puzzle, putting together a workmanlike 14-4 major over Patrick O’Keefe at 132. The win moved Camden Catholic within a victory of the title and continued to cement Jones as a major threat in the upcoming individual tournament.
“He wrestled amazing,” Heverly said. “I know that kid (Jones) pretty well and I know his body language. I know he had a lot of nerves today and I was a little concerned. He’s usually that loosey-goosey type. But he wrestled so tough and got a big win.”
When the draw for the opening session starting at 144, Rold knew it was going to come down to his bout at 138.
And Rold was ready.
“I knew I was going to go out there and dominate,” Rold said. “I just wanted to push the pace early and go as hard as I can. Later in the match, I knew I could back off a little and enjoy the moment.”
Rold’s 9-1 major decision gave the entire Irish program a reason to celebrate – the state championship trophy was returning to Cherry Hill.
Man of the match
Camden Catholic freshman Terry Terch weighed in at 168.5 on Sunday. He’s likely to wrestle at 165 next weekend.
The Irish’s best shot at winning the title required Terch to bump up and wrestle at 190. He did and notched a 4-3 win, a pivotal bout that came on the heels of consecutive forfeits.
“That was big, really big,” Heverly said.
Terch said he could feel the extra weight on his shoulders, both physically and mentally, but tried not to wrestle with those thoughts.
“You just have to try to block it out and forget it,” Terch said. “I knew (Saturday night) that I was going to go 190. I just needed to go out and wrestle. The coaches have been pushing us hard and getting us ready.”
Heverly credited his assistant coach TJ Miller, a 2011 state champion and Camden Catholic alum, with getting the team’s wrestlers ready for any situation.
Delsea’s domination
Unlike the thrilling 27-26 victory in last year’s final against Warren Hills, Delsea enjoyed an easier road to the state Group 3 championship with a 35-24 win.
“You don’t always cross the bridge twice the same way, there’s so many different ways to win a match," Delsea head coach Greg Sawyer said. “We had a feeling that it wouldn’t be that same kind of tear-the-gym-down celebration, but it would satisfying to go out and put it in the bank early.”
And that’s what the Crusaders did.
As boos rained down from the stands, the meet couldn’t have started any better for Delsea as Riley Boos delivered a pin in 3:45 in the opening about at 144. Boos’ older brother, Austin, had the pivotal fall in last year’s state final.
The Crusaders won the first six bouts, jumping out to a 26-0 lead and extending the lead to 35-15, clinching the meet with three to go. In their first three losses, the Crusaders held leads late in the third period and the third was decided in sudden victory.
What it means
Delsea (26-1) earned back-to-back titles for the first time and owns four overall crowns.
Is this the best Crusaders’ team in program history?
“I like to say so,” said senior Luke Maxwell, who clinched last year’s state championship and delivered a 25-second pin on Sunday. “It’s just a veteran-strong group. We know what we need to do in the room and what it takes to get that result on the mat.”
Sawyer couldn’t say if this squad is Delsea’s greatest on the mat, but will always have a special place in the coach’s heart.
“It’s the most fun group of kids I’ve ever coached,” Sawyer said. “From the community to the parents, we’ve all been together for so many years and to see them develop from kindergartners and first graders all the way up to now as back-to-back state champions. It’s very special."
Camden Catholic earned its 19th state title, second most to Paulsboro (27) in South Jersey.
He said it
"This is pretty cool, isn't it?" Heverly about the state championship. Before the season, the coach correctly predicted his team was going to struggle in the early stages but would be ready to make some serious noise in the postseason.
Paulsboro was thisclose to a title
Paulsboro put together a strong showing in its final against defending champion Delaware Valley and many wearing Raider red felt they should have won the title.
The Paulsboro faithful, especially the coaching staff, saw red when Logan Sichelstiel wasn’t awarded back points in his 126-pound bout against Matt Roche. Sichelstiel lost the bout, 2-1. If the back points were awarded, Paulsboro would have had won the bout and, most likely, a state title.
“It’s a call that was missed,” Paulsboro head coach Paul Morina said. “That’s the difference.
“We had a good year, our kids wrestled hard. They’ve been awesome the last four matches.”
Paulsboro finished its season at 20-4 and while it didn’t earn the ultimate prize, the group has a bright future.
“This team has been the definition of Paulsboro wrestling, we competed with a lot of heart,” junior Roman Onorato said. “We were this close to a state title. We just have to get back here next year and bring that state title back to Paulsboro.”
Paulsboro certainly showed an ability to overcome adversity lately, including a situation before Friday’s semifinal at Kittatinny. When the buses to take team to Newton (2 ½-hours away) didn’t show up, the Raiders piled into six of their coaches' cars to make the journey.
“We used that to fuel our drive in that match,” Onorato said. “It’s just been a fun group of brothers to wrestle with. Guys really started to love the sport the last couple of weeks, there was a lot of bonding between us and it was just guys having fun out there."
What’s next?
There won’t be any rest for these wrestlers.
The district tournament, the first leg of the state individual tournament, begins on Saturday.
The Results
State Group 3 Final
Delsea 35, Warren Hills 24
144: Riley Boos, D, p. Tyler O’Neill, 3:45; 150: Jamar Dixon Jr., D, md. Ryan Lundy, 13-3; 157: Salvatore Marchese, D, d. Cody Miller, 7-3; 165: Tyson Derenberger, D, d. Michael Drazek, 8-2; 175: Jared Schoppe, D, p. Luke Dugan, 0:58; 190: Danny DiGiovecchino, D, md. Chris Whitehead, 11-3; 215: Jarett Pantuso, WH, p. Rocco Bennett, 6:10; 285: Luke Maxwell, D, p. Connor Klardie, 0:25; 106: Gage Summers, D, d. Augie Szamreta, 7-4; 113: Danny Rhinehart, WH, p. Blaise Verdino, 4:48; 120: Charlie Piccione, WH, d. Zavier Stokes, 3-1 (SV); 126: Tyler Redfield, d. Alex Zimmermann, 10-4; 132: Josh Lee, d. Giovanni DeGeorge, 7-2; 138: Shawn Redfield, WH, d. Austin Boos, 5-0.
State Non-Public B Final
Camden Catholic 33, St. John Vianney 29
144: Michael Craft, CC, d. John Saraiva, 6-0; 150: Cole Stangle, SJV, md. Jack Baylouny, 17-8; 157: Austin Craft, CC, md. Kevin McBride, 15-5; 165: Thomas Cleary, SJV, forfeit; 175: Jasiah Queen, SJV, forfeit; 190: Terry Terch, CC, d. Luca Minardo, 4-3; 215: Michael Foley, p. Nicholas Dugan, 4:57; 285: Tyler Byrd, CC, p. Ryan Buchanan, 0:54; 106: Matthew Gould, SJV, d. Lazarus Joyce, 6-2; 113: Dom DiGiacomo, CC, p. Ryan Kearney, 0:42; 120: Anthony Knox, SJV, md. Sammy Spaulding, 16-7; 126: Jackson Young, CC, d. Jake Zaltsman, 3-0; 132: Kage Jones, CC, md. Patrick O’Keefe, 14-4; 138: Wayne Rold, CC, md. Anthony Paulino, 9-1.
State Group 1
Delaware Valley 34, Paulsboro 31
215: Anderson Olcott, DV, p. Jared Hazel, 0:49; 285: Jordan Eli, P, d. Kyle Cooke, 11-6; 106: Owen Kucharski, DV, d. Derrick Horton, 7-1; 113: Hayden Holmes, P, d. Jake Taylor, 6-4; 120: Jaden Perez, DV, md. Aundre Hill, 12-2; 126: Matt Roche, DV, d. Logan Sichelstiel, 2-1; 132: Kyare Harvey, P, p. Michael Hasson, 2:34; 138: Chase Bish, P, d. Jackson Bush, 8-1; 144: Ben Levy, DV, p. Sean Daniels, 3:22; 150: Chris Colasurdo, DV, p. Sawyer Cabanas, 1:48; 157: Roman Onorato, P, p. Brayden Schneider, 4:28; 165: Garrett Tettemer, DV, p. Doug King, 0:29; 175: Luke Metz, P, p. Kevin Roman, 1:58; 190: Austin Willetts, P, md. August Savacool, 15-4.
State Group 2
High Point 36, Governor Livingston 34
State Group 3
North Hunterdon 33, Jackson Memorial 27
State Group 5
Southern 41, Phillipsburg 14
Non-Public A
St. Joseph-Montvale 28, Delbarton 24
Tom McGurk is a regional sports editor for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Delsea, Camden Catholic earn state crowns, Paulsobor wrestles to second
